How to Start a Business Brand

How do you start a business brand?

Now you are ready to think about building your brand, but what do you do?

The following has been written after meeting with new customers and discovering that sometimes key parts of a business plan may have been overlooked. Things that for a graphic/branding/web designer, comes naturally. It is not necessarily the fault of the new business owner, rather than a misconception that they can handle it all. Or an oversight where building a business brand is concerned.

Here’s a guide on what to do next

1. Domain availability
There are some simple first steps which often get overlooked when thinking about your company name. The first is domain availability; make sure that no one else is using the domain that you intend to use. You can weigh up how many domain variations are already in use to decide whether you think you can register your.

For instance if www.mybusiness.com is the only domain taken, then you may decide that it’s Ok to go for www.mybusiness.co.uk : or not, the choice is yours! However, if .net, .eu and .com are already taken, then I’d recommend steering well clear. I would also recommend that you register a few domains, this should help stop other companies getting the same name but with a different domain extension.

The last thing you need is your business being mistaken for another.

A well designed logo and brand identity will help your customers gain your trust.

2. You will need a logo
Unless you are a graphic designer do not attempt to design your own logo. Too often ‘home made’ logos are created in the wrong format, cannot be scaled up for vehicle livery, shop fronts or litho printing. Steer clear of logo farms, you will only get a logo that is also used by someone else, please see here for more on this subject » (page 7).

Be careful who you approach for your logo, if they use unusual software that means your logo can only be produced in one format, it won’t be interchangeable with any other programmes and will need to be recreated. For both home made or ‘single use’ logo design, you may save money initially, but will end up spending a bit more to get your logo redesigned.

Research your competition and local logo designers and approach them with your brief. Expect to pay a day’s work or more for a decent logo, one that is knocked up may not suit your business for long.

3. How to brief for logo design
Expect the designer to ask lots of questions about your business. You may think these are irrelevant questions, but all these questions help the designer gain an insight into the best way to create your logo and brand. For guidance on what to think about with logos, download our Logo Briefing document here, simply:

Remember that a good logo and imagery will communicate sincerity and quality about your product or service.

4. Brand consistency
Your brand is not just the logo alone, it is your colours, fonts and the voice your give to your product or service.

To start a business brand from the ground up, your designer should be able to create your website, business cards and any printed flyers etc that you need. Most importantly they will look at how certain fonts and graphics will translate across a variety of media and work on keeping consistent brand identity. Your social media sites will also need to fit with your brand, with square logos and header graphics. If your logo is not already square, then an alternative square version will need to be considered.

5. Experience
Be critical, be thorough, check out local designers and their websites. If their sites are easy to use, well laid out and show examples of their work; that should give you comfort in the knowledge that they can do the same for you. Be sure that they have the experience to deal with your whole business brand, from logo conception through to web user interface design and development.

Do they fit with your business? Do they look professional or are they fun or just jokey? Are they up-to-date or just a bit too trendy/gimmicky? Is the site busy or clean? Do you know the difference? Compare and contrast, then you will be sure of choosing the right person or team for you.

If this was useful and think we could help you, please give us a call on 01473 487699.

Do you need your logo reproducing at a larger/ scale able size for use in print or signage? Contact us here », we can do that for a very reasonable fee.

Rebranding?

We can give you a completely refreshed brand and help your business move forward.If you’d like to get a website with Double S Design, please call us for a chat – we are always happy to talk. Call 01473 487699. Or email us here>

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